Poptropica: A New Life
by Hikari Kurokaze
Summary: Mika Matthews is set on finding who she wants to be. So, she travels to Poptropica to find her calling, but this new world brings memories, laughter, violence  towards Nat, action,  and romance, which is way more than she called for.
1. The Sorta Beginning?

**Hika-chan-YAY! I finally decided to make a Poptropica fanfiction!**

**Mika-And...?**

**Hika-chan-I'm the reason you exist.*death glare***

**Mika-Okay, but nothing stupid better happen to me, or else you know you'll get knocked into next month.**

**Hika-chan-Y-Yes!**

**Disclaimer:**

**Nat-*Sweatdrops* Well, anyways, Hikari doesn't own Poptropica. If she did...**

**Everyone-*Trails off into thoughts***

**Mizu-*Walks into room* She's gonna get you for calling her by her name.**

**Hika-chan-*Death glare*  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>She said her goodbyes, and her true life started.<em>

Fortunately, with having a job at thirteen and a lot of loans, I was able to afford a plane ticket to Poptropica. When I was sitting in the airport, waiting for flight thirteen to be called, I looked into the mirror that was sitting on my right. It was a plain old mirror that was glued onto the side of a service desk.

I watched my reflection. What I saw was a skinny girl that was about 5' 3'' sitting down in khaki cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. She had on blue flip-flops and was staring back at me intently, her green eyes sparkling in contrast to her tanned skin. Her shiny gray hair reaching her shoulders.

Yup, that's me: Mika Matthews. Nobody needs to know my whole life story, but let me tell you why a thirteen year old is sitting at the airport. Okay, my mom's British, and green eyes runs in the family. My dad's Indian and every two generations, a kid from his side gets gray hair. My parents are brilliant astrophysicist that knew what they wanted to do since they were my age.

All my friends know what they want to be, but I don't. They ask me, "You want to be an astrophysicist like your parents, or maybe a doctor?" and other annoying questions. I don't really know, and so I decided to travel to find my true calling. Sounds cheesy, doesn't it?

My parent let me do it because, knowing how carefree, weird, and yet awkwardly awesome they are, they let me, their only daughter, travel the world by herself. I decided to go to Poptropica 'cause I heard rumors about cool stuff happening there.

I blinked as they called flight thirteen over the intercom. At first, I didn't move, then, after my brain had processed what was going on, I jumped out of my seat, and ran for it.

I gave the lady my ticket and walked through into the plane. I found my seat, (which was by a window!) and sat down, staring out of it. It was supposed to take three hours to get to Poptropica, and it was already eleven. So when I looked out the window, all I saw was darkness and a few blinking lights. And during the flight, just darkness.

Well, anyways, I had two empty seats next to me until this random stranger that had a seat by me sat down. He had spiky rusty blonde hair and blue eyes. He had on baggy jeans and a polo shirt. He looked to be about twenty. I raised my eyebrow at him as he sat and turned back to the window. He seemed kind of familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

The pilot announced that we were taking flight and I felt all excited. The small television in front of me turned on and I plugged in my ear plugs. I found that the Baby Looney Toons show was on all night so I watched it the whole time.

When it was getting close to one, I started feeling sleepy. And the creepy guy next to me noticed. He pulled out his ear plugs out of his ears and asked me, "Hey, you gonna fall asleep?" I looked at him, trying to keep my eyelids from falling. "N-No," I yawned. That was a total lie. I couldn't take it anymore. My eyelids drooped over and I fell asleep.

I woke up because someone disturbed my sleep. "Hey, wake up," said the creepy dude's voice. He nudged me again and again until finally… "SHUT THE HELL UP!" I got a giant plastic hammer out of nowhere and bonked the man on his head. "Youch!" he recoiled into his chair and rubbed his head. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Never. Wake. Me. Up. AGAIN!" I told him. He flinched, saying, "Okay, but the plane just landed, and we gotta get off." I looked around. No one else was in the plane.

I smiled sheepishly and walked out of my seat as the other guy got up. We walked to the luggage pick up and introduced ourselves. "I'm Nathaniel Booker, and you are…?" he introduced, holding out his hand. "Matthews, Mika Matthews." I said, feeling kind of bored. Although, the weirdo, wait, Nat, did remind me of someone. Eh, I don't have such a great memory. I can't even remember what I was watching on the plane's TV before I fell asleep.

We picked up our luggage and headed outside, ya know, where cars pick people up. I looked around. I had three hundred bucks in my bag, and I needed a taxi and somewhere to stay. I yawned as Nat waved over in the direction of an incoming car. "Who's picking you up?" I asked through my yawn. "Oh, a friend of mine." He replied with a grin. The car pulled up in front of us and I heard a door slam shut as a man with brown hair came up to greet with Nat.

I stared at him the way I did when I first met Nat in the plane. He noticed me and bent down to meet with my eyes. "And who is this cutie?" he asked in a baby voice. I saw Nat try to warn his friend, but it was too late. BAM. Another strike to the head. "I see…!" the guy muttered. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Wallace."

"Mika." I said intently. I saw Nat's face light up as if he just thought of something. He turned to me with a questioned face. "Don't you need someplace to stay, Mika?" he asked. I nodded. "You can stay with me!"

I backed away several steps.

Nat sweatdropped. "N-No, I'm not going to do anything to you, I'm not a pedophile or a perv." He stuttered out. I came closer, feeling a little relaxed. "Any catches?" I asked. Nat thought for a while, and then had a brief conversation with Wallace, and finally said to me, "No."

He had a weird smile on his face…it worried me.

So, we loaded into the car, all the luggage in the trunk. Wallace was driving, Nat was sitting in the passenger seat, and I was sitting in the back behind them. "So, you're from here?" I asked Nat. "Oh, no. I'm from America, but I moved here. And I just came back from visiting my uncle." Nat explained.

I looked through the window at the street lights and all the buildings. "So, where are we?" I asked. "We are on Early Poptropica Island. This whole continent is made up of islands." Wallace said, stealing Nat's prize of explaining.

I gazed around at the surroundings we were passing by so quickly. My eye lids constantly fell, but I tried to stay awake. I didn't usually stay up late. Well, not until three in the morning that is. Probably two thirty and I would be knocked out. But, my brain needed its rest, so I finally admitted defeat, slumping back in the seat as I heard Nat snicker. When I woke up, I was gonna knock him into next month.

Well, when the car stopped, I was awoken by Wallace gently, and I smacked Nat. of course, he wondered what that was for, but I know he knew. I got out of the car, grabbed my luggage, and finally realized that we were standing in front of the biggest house I would ever see in my lifetime. It was a huge mansion that looked like it had fifty rooms. It was in circle, like it was in the middle and gates closed around it. A fountain was in front of the mansion, so really, it was like any movie mansion.

My mouth dropped at it and Nat pushed my jaw back up. "Like?" he asked. I nodded. "See, and in here, I couldn't even get close to you since you're gonna be in a different wing than me." He added as he prodded his chin. "Plus, I think I'll get lost looking for your room."

I sweatdropped and proceeded to walk in as Wallace opened the door. A bunch of people (maids, butlers, some other peoples) lined up in the path of the door. "Welcome back, Nathaniel!" they all greeted with smiles. I wondered why people would actually work for this dude. Wallace's phone started ringing and he stepped back outside as he said, "Hello." Meanwhile, Nat greeted all of his employees and told one of them to take our luggage up to our rooms. I guessed the maid would decide where my room was going to be.

I just stood there and looked around the place. It was huge! Okay, picture it like this: very, very large room with a door on either side and a door for the front, and then in the back of the room, a staircase that splits into two different directions. The main room, which we were in, was all sparkly and clean. There was an occasional small table that had a picture on it or something.

Soon, Wallace came back in and whispered something to Nat. At first, Nat looked surprised, but then he just smiled. Boy, does this dude creep me out or what? After a while, the crowd of maids, butlers, and other people dispersed. One maid came up to me and smiled. She was an elderly lady with warm eyes and a heart lifting smile.

"It has been so long…" she muttered. "What?" I asked her politely, wondering what she was talking about. "Oh, it is nothing miss. Now, may I give you a tour and show you to your room?" the maid asked me. "Yes, please. Oh, and may I know your name? I am Mika." I introduced. The elderly lady smiled. "I am Elizabeth. Pleased to meet you."

I smiled and we made our way. Elizabeth gave me a tour of the whole entire mansion. I couldn't believe that such an old lady could remember all this, but Nat couldn't. I would have been surprised if I could remember. We stopped by several places, such as Nat's room, the kitchen, plenty of bathrooms, offices, two libraries, and a home theater. There was a lot more, but, I'm sure I'll run into them at some time.

We finally stopped at my room. I opened the door and saw that the whole room was pink, filled with a bunch of girly stuff. This was NOT gonna work. My vein bulged, but I kindly said farewell and thanked Elizabeth before I closed the door and screamed. "What does this dude think I am?" I questioned loudly to no one in particular.

I found a huge garbage bag by the trashcan and started stuffing anything pink into it: curtains, pillows, the bed sheets, and the teddy bears. Then, I opened up my room door, and jolted out in search of the supply closet. I know we passed one, and I was sure there was some other color of paint in there. I saw Nat around a corner and kidded to a stop in front of him. "Oh there you are!" he exclaimed happily.

I slapped him and kicked him in the shin before taking off again.

"YOUUUUCH!"

That felt a lot better. I jolted around corners, scaring plenty of maids and butlers. Soon, I found the thing I was looking for: the legendary supply closet. Eh, it just sounds cool that way. I opened the door, turned on the light, and grabbed a bunch of paint rollers and brushes. I looked through the cans of assorted paints and finally found a reasonable color: forest green. I grabbed two cans of the color paint and calmly walked out of the room, closing the door behind me, feeling sort of accomplished.

I fell. Because I walked into something.

I fell onto the floor and the paint cans smashed open, splattering all over me and the ground. "Whoa, you okay?" asked a familiar voice. I looked up angrily to see Nat looking down at me. He held out his hand, and I, with a grudge, accepted it in getting up. I looked down at my clothing, that were now covered in green.

"What are you doing with that stuff?" he asked, ignoring the fact that he might be slapped again like earlier. I calmed myself down. "I DON'T like my room, so I was gonna remodel it." I said, taking a deep breath. "Oh!" Nat said, waving his hand and petting me on the head, making it even harder to suppress the anger. "I'll just get my employees to do it. It should be ready by tomorrow morning if they work all night, so, stay with Elizabeth." He explained with his usual smile.

All my anger disappeared as I remembered the kind old lady. "Hey, she said that it has been so long. You know, when she saw me, she said that." I told Nat. He grinned playfully. "That's because she's our grandma, silly!" he exclaimed.

My jaw dropped as I gazed at Nat. "OUR GRANDMA!" I shouted. "Our? So we're…?" I started blabbing. Nat nodded. "Don't you remember me, I'm the reason why you have the personality you have," he explained. Then, I remembered why he seemed familiar at first. I was a baby, and he often played with me, I think he was seven. He was by my side twenty four/seven. We had a strong relationship. He showed me how I should defend myself, and when he was being mean, I would have slapped him playfully on the head.

Memories floated into my mind. How could I have forgotten? He was like a brother to me. Tears started forming in my eyes, and I looked at the ground so he wouldn't see. "So…" I sniffled. "Grandma was always watching us right?" I asked. "Yup."

"Why is she working for you?"

"She's not. She's just visiting because she worries about me a lot." Nat said in a calm voice. The first time I heard him talk with such care in his voice. My tears spilled out of my eyes and I started to sob. I hugged Nat so hard; he probably couldn't have been able to breathe. But even so, he hugged me back. I looked up at him and said, "This doesn't change the fact that I'm still gonna hurt you."

"I know. I've been with you for most of my life, and knowing I sort of taught you martial arts, which I kind of regret now, I know what to expect," he replied. I grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>Hika-chan-Did you enjoy? Please review, it is very important to me so I know if I should continue!<strong>

**Cast of story-PLEASE REVIEW! WE WANT TO LIVE!**

**Mika-Hika-chan, I just noticed something.**

**Hika-chan-What?**

**Mika-YOU MADE SOMETHING EMBARRASSING HAPPEN TO ME!  
><strong>

**Mizu-*Sweatdrops as Mika starts throwing things* Thank you! R&R!  
><strong>


	2. Meet Dan Avalar

**Hika-chan-Yosh! Chapter two!~**

**Mizu-This chapter...I can tell that your going to make me write some weird notes for you...**

**Disclaimer:**

**Grandma- Hika-chan doesn't owl Poptropica in anyway. Well, good-bye, I am off to swim with giant squids...!~**

**Mika and Nat-Wait Grandma!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>That night, I went to bunk with Grandma in her guest room. Nat said that he was having some people change the room up a little bit. Okay, maybe a <em>lot.<em> So far, my trip to Poptropica had been interesting, I had one of those touching family moments you see in the movies with my cousin who for some reason was erased from my mind. And I found out that he is super rich, for some odd reason is what I gathered from not knowing why, and my grandmother just happens to be visiting him.

I sighed, letting myself lose my train of thought for a minute. Grandma was reading a book under the lamp, and I was sleeping on the sofa that was in her room. I didn't want to disturb her reading, but I had some stuff I wanted to ask her. "Ne, Grandma?" I asked. She looked up from her book and faced me. "Yes?" she was so sweet. I couldn't believe she and I were related, I was more violent. I couldn't believe that she and Nat were related, he was so…I think I don't need to say more.

"Grandma, why did I forget about Nat?" I asked. Another movie scene, ne? "I honestly don't know. Maybe it was the fact that you fell a lot when you tried to copy his fighting moves, or maybe because you were so young when he left and didn't come back. I had figured out that Nat was eight years older than me. He left from America to Poptropica with his parents when he was twelve, leaving me to be four. Now that I think about it, I did remember hitting someone with my rattle a lot. And he looked just like Nat, except a little less weird looking and way younger.

I chuckled. "You watched us right? I mean, you did it a lot because our parents were busy with their jobs?" Grandma nodded. "You are really nice. I mean, you can deal with Nat, and you even visit him. It's not that I don't like him, it's just that's he's a little…?" I trailed off, trying to find a word that fit him. "Peculiar?" my grandmother giggled. I looked over to her with a grin. "Yes, he get's that from your uncle. His dad and my mom were brother and sister.

My mom inherited the mad strength, intelligence, and most of the beauty and elegance, while my uncle got the peculiarness, a little bit of the beauty-or handsomeness in his case- and the act of being kind. It wasn't that my mom wasn't nice, it was just that, with her strength, there were little things that made my family different from normal families. A shudder went down my spine. But, fortunately, Nat had his mom to make up for what he lost. I remembered my aunt as a wonderful person who got along with everyone.

I sighed and said good night to my grandmother, falling onto a deep sleep. That morning, I woke up at seven. I walked to a bathroom that was two corridors away, took a bath, brushed my teeth, and changed into a blue hoodie, a white tee under it, and jeans. I was wearing socks on my feet. At my house, we didn't wear shoes inside. As I walked back to the room to drop off my things, I wondered how Grandma managed to get all the way to the bathroom and back. I mean, I'm just saying it must be a little difficult at her age.

Anyways, I made my way to the huge dining room where I found Grandma and Nat sitting at a table. I sighed, looking at how long the table was, knowing that today, only three people would be sitting at it. I pulled out a chair besides Nat and sat. I looked at the table. There was a plate that had eggs, French toast, and pancakes. I looked up to Nat. "I can't eat this." I said bluntly. "C'mon, why not?" Nat asked as Grandma chuckled. I got up from my chair pushing the plate away. "I need cereal." I said. I made my way to the door so I could find the kitchen. When I exited, I heard Grandma laugh, "I knew it."

I walked to the kitchen leisurely, and found that only one person was there. "Hello, Miss. Mika," he greeted. I smiled at him and made my way to a pantry; there I found a box of Cheerios. I soon got a bowl and a spoon. In the fridge, I found three gallons of milk. "G-Gosh, does he really need so much milk at one time…?" I muttered, a sweatdrop on my head.

"Well, I must go shopping Miss. Mika. Please don't do anything reckless." The chef said as he walked out of the kitchen. I sighed and pulled out the milk. I poured it into the bowl along with the cereal and put away both. But, as I was going to the pantry to put away the Cheerios, I saw a glimpse of someone moving by the window. I closed the cabinet quickly and looked through the window. Off to the right, there was a person, probably a boy. Their back was turned to me, and he was looking left and right over and over again. Then he started walking.

"A thief…?" I asked myself. I opened my eyes in surprise and dashed out the kitchen door, then I darted back in to get my cereal. I slammed open the dining room door, making some milk spill on my sneakers. Grandma looked at me like everything was normal-of course-and Nat looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you doing?" he asked me as I drank some milk from my half empty bowl of cereal.

I threw the bowl like a Frisbee, making it land on the table. "I saw a thief by the kitchen. Come on!" I exclaimed. Grandma had a slightly surprised face, but then smiled. I have the feeling that my grandmother can see the future…is it just me? Anyways, I started running in the hall to the main room, Nat behind me. I was pretty surprised he could even keep up to me, 'cause like I said earlier, I had the mad strength.

When we made our way to the main room after about five minutes-we would have made it in three if Nat didn't keep crashing into maids and wall-and I opened the doors wide. As soon as I opened the doors, there was the same boy who I saw as the thief standing in front of me, his hand in a fist so he could knock on the door.

"T-Thief!" I cried out as I hid behind Nat. "Thief…?" the boy said, looking around. "Oh, hey Dan!" Nat exclaimed happily. "Dan?" I asked looking up at my idiotic cousin, and back to the boy who wasn't to be claimed as a thief. "Mika, this is Dan. He's…an associate."Nat said, making the introductions begin.

Stepping out from behind Nat I held out my hand saying. "Mika Matthews." I looked at him suspiciously. He put his hand into mine and began to shake. "Dan Avalar," he said back to me, with a weird smile. I retracted my hand from his and stared at him. He had shaggy looking dark blue hair that stuck out every so often. His bangs made way to the bridge of his nose, but they were parted around his eyes. He was wearing a pair of worn out sneakers, a t-shirt that said 'owl city', and jeans that were ripped at the knee.

"So…?" Dan directed his question to Nat. "She's my cousin and she'll be here for a while." Nat replied. "Well, anyways, I just got word from Wallace that…-" Dan started. But Nat covered his mouth as to not finish the sentence. Then he whispered something to him and Dan made a sound like he was saying 'ahh!' in understanding.

"Oh, hello Dan!" Grandma's voice rung out. I spun around to see her holding to suitcases. "Hi, Grandma Liz!" Dan called out from behind me. Granma smiled at him. "Well, Nat, Mika, I am leaving to Japan now to swim with giant squid, see you in a few months!" she sang cheerily. I watched as she drove away with Wallace with a sweatdrop on my head. My grandmother…not only does she see the future…but she's _really_courageous.

Nat smiled sheepishly and patted me on the head. I stepped on his foot really hard and he yelped. Dan watched with interest. "Well, Mika, can you please leave so Dan and I can talk?" Nat asked me, flinching from pain. I lifted my foot from his and looked at the two males suspiciously. "No."

"Mika, please…?" Dan pleaded. "NO. Now come on, talk." I replied bluntly. Nat sighed. "You were gonna have to find out anyway…" he trailed off. "Well, I am the head of a secret agency. Wallace is my right hand man, and Dan here is one of my best agents." Nat explained.

I stared.

Silence.

"WHAAAAAT?" I exclaimed.

* * *

><p><strong>Dan-Well, wasn't that nice?<strong>

**Hika-chan-Yes, yes it was.**

**Mika-*Facepalm* I can't believe you made me think this fool was a thief...**

**Dan-Heh...? *Puts hand on Mika's shoulder***

**Mika-Don't touch me! *Whacks in the head with giant hammer that appeared in first chapter***

**Hika-chan-Oh, yeah, sorry for the long wait! R&R plz!  
><strong>


	3. Art and Spiders

**Hika-chan-SORRY for the long wait. Heh, kinda got caught up in...other things.**

**Mika-Other things? Enough to forget about us?**

**Mizu-*Nods* It's Hika-chan's fault.**

**Hika-chan-*stunned*WHAT? Mizu, how dare you defile me!**

**Dan- Um, can we roll it? *sweatdrop***

**Nat-Hika-chan, you know, you forgot to add something.**

**Hika-chan-*creepy dark aura*What is it Nathaniel?**

**Nat-You don't own Poptropica.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Goddammit, you didn't have to yell!" Dan yelled back at me, banging his hand against his ear. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him so much it might have knocked the daylights out of him, knowing he was dizzy afterward. "That's not the point!" I told him. I sighed and tapped my foot, rubbing my temple.<p>

"Okay, so, Nat, you own a secret agency?" I asked. "Yup," he replied smiling. Oh my goodness, how the hell was I related to this man? "You're what age…?" I directed toward Dan. "Fourteen." "Okay, and you're best agent is a fourteen year old." I stated. Nat nodded once again. I slapped him and pulled his ear down to my mouth. "YOU'RE ENDANGERING HIS LIFE HERE!" I yelled into his ear.

I let go of his ear and crossed my arms, waiting for a reply. "N-Nat, you okay…?" Dan wondered, worried about his boss's well being. Nat slapped his ear a few times, shook his head and finally said, "Yup." Dan and I sweatdropped. Then he turned to me and smiled. "Mika, it's not like that. My agency helps the people of Poptropica. If they lose something, we help, if there's something wrong with their island, we investigate. If it ever gets dangerous, we send an adult." Nat explained. "Besides, Dan is my only kid agent."

I sighed and started walking around in circles. Finally, I stopped and looked at them both. "Fine, as long as you three-you, Dan, and Wallace-don't get killed, then I won't tear down your headquarters or whatever." The two looked at me a moment. "You know, I should have seen this coming." Nat laughed. I smirked. "And _I_ should have seen _this_ coming."

Dan looked down at his wrist. "Hey, you guys, it's almost lunch, so why don't we head out and get a soda?" Dan offered. "Sure, but, didn't we have breakfast a few minutes ago…?" I asked, sweatdropping. "Count me out for now, I gotta check on Mika's room." Nat said. He said bye and left up the steps, where I heard him crash into someone. I slipped on my sneakers which were lying by the door. Sighing, I looked at Dan and smiled. "So, let's get going!" I said happily.

Dan looked at me a moment, and smiled. We walked out the door and walked off the estate to the sidewalk. I saw other Poptropican's walking around the place. "So, where we going?" I asked Dan, putting my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. "The Soda Pop Shop. We'll get some root beer and then I'll give you a tour of the place." Dan explained, looking ahead.

"Okay, sounds reasona-!" I cut off, because of a huge puddle of water. I slipped in it, and fell back, but thankfully, Dan caught me before I fell to the ground. He helped regain my balance and asked, "You okay?" I nodded, looking at the puddle. I looked up and saw a huge water tower before me. "This thing must be leaking." I said. "It's had a crack in it for the last twenty years, but nothing bad ever happens." Dan explained.

"Well, then, let's continue." I said, ignoring what just happened. A few minutes passed until we finally got to The Soda Pop Shop. When we walked in, all I could hear was noise. There were multiple levels and a lot of other people were there. Some were talking, other's playing some arcade games, or just drinking soda. Dan grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my trance, and dragged me to the nearby seats. We sat down and I kicked him in the shin. "Don't drag me." I told him over the noise. He rubbed his shin until the waiter came.

"Two root beers, Bob." Dan smiled, holding up two fingers. The man nodded and walked away, to soon come back with two root beers. "So, you're from America?" Dan asked before taking a sip of his soda. I nodded, "Yeah. You're from here?" I presumed. Dan nodded. "Lived here all my life, although I'm from a different island," he explained.

"Which one?" "I think we might go there, so wait a little longer to find out," he smirked. "So, how old are you?" he asked, changing the subject. "I'm thirteen. But my birthday's gonna be next month." I mumbled angrily, remembering that he's older than me. "Ha, you're still a kid!" Dan laughed. I looked over at him. "Dammit, I am not, and plus, your only a few months older than me!" I told him angrily. "How'd you know?" Dan questioned. "I have my presumptions." I smirked, finally taking a sip of my soda.

"You're funny." Dan said smiling. I looked over at him, surprised. "R-Really?" I asked. He nodded in response. I took another sip of my soda before Dan asked. "So-not to offend you or anything-but, what's up with the hair and eyes? Contact lenses and dye?" I looked over at him and shook my head. "Both natural." I smirked.

"Cool," he mumbled. I laughed and said, "Looks like I'm not the only funny one here-although, I get the feeling its weird funny." Dan laughed. "Heh, I've always been funny." He smirked and we both drank some of our root beer. The conversation went on like that until we finished drinking our sodas, which took a while, knowing we kind of neglected them because of our conversation. After we left, we went to the nearby art museum. I yawned once we stepped in. "Sorry, this isn't my kind of thing." I mumbled.

Dan sweatdropped and we looked at a few pictures before I started to actually fall asleep. We left and started walking around. We wandered off to some old, village-like place at the edge of the island. The man we saw was dressed like a pilgrim. "Why…?" I mumbled to Dan. "Let's just say that Early Poptropican's in particular like to keep their history," he replied.

"Okay then."

"WELCOME!" the man bellowed happily. "Hello," I told him politely, being unfazed. "Please, enjoy your time here. Although, plenty things of ours have gone missing." He mumbled the last part. I looked at him, concerned. "Then, I'll look for them and return them before the day ends." I told him. "What?" he asked, surprised. Dan put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded confidently. "Then I'll help."

I smiled and looked at the man. "W-Well, it looks like there's no stopping you two. Go ahead and ask the people in the village what they lost." He told us with a smile. I smiled back and Dan and I made our way deeper into the village. I saw a man pacing around frantically by a fence. Dan and I walked over to him, concerned. "Excuse me, but, could you tell us what's wrong?" Dan asked. "My pig has gone missing! Now we will have no meat to feed to the villagers today!" he told us. Well then, let us handle it." I told him, pointing my thumb at me.

"Oh thank you!" the man told us, shaking our hands. I smiled sheepishly as Dan and I left the village. "Well then, where the hell are we going to find a lost pig?" he asked. I looked around. "Did you hear that?" I asked. "What?" Dan looked around. I closed my eyes. "I hear the pig!" I exclaimed, opening my eyes again. Dan looked at me a second, but didn't say anything.

We walked around until I stopped before a manhole. "In here?" Dan asked. I nodded and climbed down. "Hey, wait, Mika! Aren't you the _least_ disgusted of going into a sewer?" Dan called after me. I stopped and looked up at him, saying, "Nope." Dan sweatdropped, shrugged, and climbed down. I smiled and kept on going down. Then, I jumped off and landed on the ground. A moment later, Dan landed near me. I looked at my feet to see goo all over the floor.

"Damn, I'm gonna have to wash these sneakers," I sighed. Dan looked around. "Mika, we're gonna have to jump to get to the next platform," he explained, pointing down. "Oi, I can jump, okay. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm super fragile or something." I said angrily. "Fine, fine!" Dan shrugged, laughing.

We both jumped down and landed next to a girl a little older than me. She looked at us. Her skin was terribly white and she wore a lot of black makeup. "Are you afraid of spiders?" she asked eerily. Dan and I backed away slowly, falling off the platform and luckily landing on another one. I rubbed my head as I got up and saw that the platform was moving back and forth.

"How the hell is this happening?" I exclaimed. "Mika, never mind that, look!" Dan said happily. He pointed at the ground level of this sewer to see the pig trotting back and forth aimlessly around some barrels of toxic waste. "Let's go get it." I said plainly. I was about to jump off the platform when Dan pulled me back. "What?" I asked.

"Look over there now." He said, pointing off in another direction. Underneath our moving platform was a gigantic green spider that was moving around. "Easy." I said, looking back at Dan. "What?" he asked. "I'll jump on it and you grab the pig, then we get out of here." I said, nonchalantly. Dan looked at me a moment, in complete utter surprise. Then he sighed. "F-Fine. On the count of three: one, two, three!"

We instantly jumped off the platform. I landed on the giant spider with a loud crunching sound that made my stomach lurch a little. Dan had grabbed the pig and walked over to me. I walked off of the spider and looked down at my shoes-covered in spider gunk that I don't want to know where it came from. "Dammit again!" I muttered angrily.

Dan laughed, but was interrupted by a crunching sound. We both had our eyes open wide. "No way," he muttered. We looked back to the giant spider to see it moving, and looking toward us angrily once it got its legs straightened out. "Ah crap…" I muttered. "RUN!"

* * *

><p><strong>Mizu-That was a nice chapter...<strong>

**Mika-Really? I've gotta get new sneakers now! Dammit...!**

**Dan-Why did I have to get the pig?**

**Hika-chan-'Cause I said so.*cue maniacal laughter***

**Mizu-Please review, for the sake of everyone but Hika-chan, whose lives are at stake.  
><strong>


	4. Idioticy At Its Best

**Mika-Hey, Mizu, I ordered some new sneakers yesterday. Did anything come in the mail?**

**Mizu-*glances over at Mika from her coffee and newspaper* People deliver shoes? Hmmn, I didn't know that...ah, nope nothing. Which is strange, since Hika-chan has to pay the electricity bill for this place still.**

**Dan-By the way, where exactly is Hika-chan?**

**Mizu-She went off to do an investigation tht included some other people and her brother Shinji. Knowing her, she'll probably be back in the next week wearing a fedora and saying she has control of the mafia.*sigh***

**Nat-Hika-chan doesn't own Poptropica.**

* * *

><p>Dan and I started running for our lives. We ran around the spider like five times before we actually had the sense to climb the rope that was nearby. He forced me to climb up first, even though I insisted he did, but I ended up going anyways. With that, even though we were up on a safe platform, I had forgotten that spiders can climb walls. Especially gigantic green spiders. I looked over at the moving platform. I pulled on Dan's sleeve, and he looked at me from the pig he was trying to comfort.<p>

"I have an idea." I said. "Well, spit it out. That things getting closer by the minute." He rushed me, pointing at the spider. "Well, all we have to do is jump from here, onto the moving platform, jump onto the platform across from it, climb up that rope, and get our ass's outta here." I said, nonchalantly. Dan looked at me a moment, surprised. "What?" I asked, in a rushed way. "Wait 'till Nat hears your colorful language," he smirked at me before grabbed me by the waist and jumping onto the moving platform.

Dan let go of me for a split second, in which I inched away from him. "W-What was that for?" I asked him loudly. I was definitely flustered at the moment. What did you expect me to do? Anyways, Dan looked at me innocently. "Well, you were being slow, and the spider was getting really close. Now c'mon. Let's get this pig back to that Early Poptropican." I stared at Dan a moment, and shook it off. I could have jumped that by myself…stupid me, being slow. Dan and I jumped onto the next platform, grabbed a rope and climbed up, and soon got back to the platform where the weird Goth was. "Hello…~" she said to us. "She really creeps me out" I mumbled to Dan, who nodded in agreement. It's not that I don't like Goth's, it's just that this particular person just crossed the line with creepy…

Well, me and Dan climbed up another rope very carefully, to make sure he didn't drop the pig or anything. When we got out of the sewer, I breathed in a breath of fresh air. "Finally!" I cried out in happiness. "Uh, Mika, we're in the middle of the road…" Dan trailed off, sweatdropping. I looked around and saw a bunch of random people giving me weird looks. "Oops, sorry I was just happy we got outta there…" I said, looking to my gunk covered shoes. We walked out of the road, onto the sidewalk, and slowly made our way to back to Early Poptropica.

Once we got there, we found the dude pacing around his pig pen again. "Hey, mister!" I called out to him. He looked up from his routine and grinned at the sight of his pig. Dan set the pig down, who raced to his owner. "Well now, isn't that, uh, sweet…?" I said to Dan as I watched the pig reunite with his owner. "Yeah, it sure is. Especially since I don't have to carry that thing anymore. It's freaking heavy!" he complained, rubbing his hand against his back. I laughed at him. "Hey, it's not funny!" he told me, his brow furrowed. I stifled a laugh. "Yeah it is." I said in a very evil way. "Thanks to you two!" said the pig man as he came to us holding his pig. He smiled at Dan and I before holding up his pig and announcing, "Bacon for all!"

The pig didn't seem to understand, but Dan and I sure did. So with that, we moved on throughout Early Poptropica. Next dude we saw was sitting on a well, sobbing. I looked at him a moment. "Uh, Dan, maybe this dude's a nutcase…?" I asked him in a whisper as we approached him. He gave me a look. "Mika, you can't think that!" he whispered in reply. I furrowed my brow and tripped him over. "I'll think what I want." I snickered. He looked up at me and laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha, very funny. Now help me up," he told me, smiling a little. I held my hand out to him and grabbed his, pulling him up easily. We walked a few more steps over to the man and I poked him on the shoulder before hiding behind Dan.

"Mika!" Dan scolded me. I ignored him and looked at the man. "Y-Yes?" he muttered between sobs. "Uh, sir, we were just wondering, well, what's wrong?" Dan asked politely. There's a big difference between the two of us. The man looked at us a moment, and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Well, you see, I'm in charge of bringing the water to each villager. But, the bucket has disappeared! What will we do without water?" he cried out. I looked at the man in pity. "We'll help you sir." I told him, peeking out from behind Dan. Dan gave me a quick look and smiled at me.

The man smiled at me and said, "Really? Thank you! Thank you so much!" I smiled at him and he went off somewhere. "Well then, Mika, I have a suggestion on where to go first." Dan said, rubbing his hands together. "Where?" I asked slowly. Then, Dan grabbed me by my waist, and we jumped into the goddamned well.

I had never felt so scared in my whole bloody life.

I had clung onto Dan when we jumped into the well, thinking I was gonna fall to my death. Yeah, I did think that clinging to the closest thing-which would be Dan-would save me. But instead, he grabbed a rope, and we slid down to a platform. "Uh, Mika, you can let go of me now." Dan muttered, sounding embarrassed. I opened my closed eyes and looked around carefully. I moved my foot around and finally decided: I was not going to die by falling because of the idiot I was clinging to for my life.

I immediately let go of him and inched away a little bit. Dan looked at his hand and frowned. "This hurts…" he muttered to himself, but it was loud enough for me to hear. "What?" I asked, moving closer to him. "Noth-!" Dan cut off, as I grabbed his right hand and looked at it. It was covered in bruises and partially bleeding. "Dan!" I exclaimed, squeezing his hand. "This is from the rope isn't it?" I asked. "Yeah, but it's not that much of a deal…" he mumbled. "YES, it is!" I yelled at him.

"Listen, Mika, I don't see why you're so concerned. Honestly, it's nothing compared to some other bruises I've gotten before!" he complained to me quietly. I squeezed his hand harder and watched him flinch. "Listen up Avalar, I care because you're my friend. And no friend of mine is going to be injured around me without getting yelled at-and so far, you've been lucky. So, I instruct you to go see Nat. Let him bandage your hand, and when you're done, meet me here." I said to him quietly, trying to calm down my anger.

He looked at me a moment. "Thanks Mika…" he trailed off, and then hugged me. I let go of his hand and let him embrace me for a moment before I remembered what we were actually supposed to be doing. I quickly pulled away from him, embarrassed, and said, "N-Now get going." Dan smiled and started climbing back up the rope carefully. When I knew he was gone, I slumped a little. "Yeash, I'm a worry-wart despite my personality…" I sighed to myself.

I straightened myself up and looked around. "What kind of well is this?" I asked myself. I started climbing down the platform, and I jumped onto another one that was like a see-saw. "Bloody-!" I exclaimed when it started tilting. Immediately, I ran over to the other side where there was a box and kicked it over to the spot I was just at. The platform evened out and I sighed in relief.

After that, I did the same with another one, jumped a few more platforms, and finally reached some dude on a platform wearing scuba gear and holding a glow-in-the-dark stick. "Uh, hi." I told him, hearing my voice echo above the waves below. "Hi'ya there!" he bellowed. "Do ya' want a glow stick? I left one all the way up there!" he exclaimed happily, pointing at a glowing platform high above us.

I sweatdropped and thanked him. After that, I quickly made my way up the platforms after some cursing, falling, and more cursing. "Bullocks!" I ranted to no one in particular once I reached the platform that had a glowing glow stick sitting on it. I picked it up, stuffed it into my pocket, and made my way back to the entrance. "Well, this trip didn't do me any good." I mumbled when I put my hand on the rope. Then I remembered that I told Dan to meet me _here_. I sighed and sat my sorry ass on the cold ground. "Bloody hell…I should have told him to meet me somewhere else…guess I was just caught up in the moment…" I said, blushing a little from remembering the hug.

Sure, other dudes had hugged me before, and they were all my friends. But I had just met Dan _today_. I gotta admit, it was kinda weird how quickly we established our friendship. Then again, my whole life is weird, so I guess there's nothing to say about it. So I waited there for what seemed like forever until I probably fell asleep. Honestly, I can't remember. But I do remember waking up when I heard a thump. I opened my eyes slowly, and looked up groggily. Dan was standing in front of me, smiling, looking down at me.

"Good morning," he told me, holding out his hand. "Good morning…"I yawned, accepting it and finally standing up after his help. I rubbed my eyes like a tired three year old would and grabbed Dan's right hand. "Let's see." I mumbled to myself. His hand had bandages wrapping around it all the way to his wrist. I sighed in relief. "Happy?" he asked, smiling. I nodded and pulled out the glow stick. "That's what you found? No bucket?" he asked, staring at the glow stick, and taking it out of my hand. "Yeah, I guess we should probably dump it somewhere." I said in a care-free way.

He stuck it into his back pocket and laughed, "C'mon, we might find a use for it!" I smiled a little. "Fine fine. Now let's get out of here." I said, gesturing to the rope. And with that, Dana and I exited the well, leaving the village for now. "Well now, where do you suppose we go next?" I asked him. He seemed to be in thought as we walked for a moment. "Well, Nat said that we should stop by at the other side of the island, and meet him at some restaurant. He wants to talk to us," he explained to me without losing his focus on where we were going. I nodded.

"Well, okay. Let's go. I am a little hungry anyways, but, do you think they'll still allow us in with how we look?" I asked, snickering. It was true-Dan and I were covered in gunk, water, and were smelling pretty gross. We practically looked like hoboes, and I didn't really mind. But knowing my cousin, he's probably waiting at some fancy restaurant, and I don't want to _upset_ any of those 'fancy people'. Well, not really, I guess it's just kinda weird, since I really don't wanna give Nat a bad name knowing how rich he is.

Well, anyway, we made our way through town and finally got to the other side, where there were a bunch of buildings. I guessed they were apartments with how they were situated. "So, where exactly is this restaurant?" I asked Dan, definitely annoyed. We had searched the whole area for an hour and we still couldn't find it. "Um, I honestly don't know. Wait, let me call him really quick." Dan mumbled to me, taking his cell out of his pocket. He quickly dialed a number and clicked speaker phone, holding it out in front of us. Once I heard Nat answer with a "Hello?" I yelled into the speaker, "WHERE EXACTLY IS THIS BLOODY RESTAURANT, YOU NUMBSKULL?"

"Mika!" Dan complained. I shrugged him off and looked impatiently at the phone. "W-Well, it's not my fault I forgot to give you directions…" Nickolai whimpered from the other end of our conversation. "Yes it is." Dan and I told him in synchronization. I snickered in silence. "Well, it's pretty simple to get here, ya know." Nat started off. Dan rolled his eyes. I giggled, and Nat continued, "You see the statue? Well, climb some windows, jump on it, jump to the building next to it, scale those windows, start jumping on the clothes' line, and you'll end up on the highest apartment building. And that's where I am."

Dan and I sweatdropped, and I could practically see Nat smiling like there was nothing wrong with what he just said. "W-Well thanks, I guess…" Dan trailed off before cutting the call and stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "Let's go Mika," he sighed. "Wait, you're actually gonna do all that just to get to bloody restaurant?" I exclaimed. "There's no other way. Besides, I've had to do worse on some other missions just to sneak in," he replied happily. I sweatdropped. "Yeash…fine. But, I've never done anything like that, so be a little slow, will ya'?" I demanded, and we started off. Dan and I started scaling the windows, moving from building to building. Occasionally, I was hanging on to a window sill with two of my fingers, and Dan had to help me up-which was really dangerous knowing how much space we have-we broke a few flower pots, interrupted a few people's make-out sessions, and accidentally broke a cops window.

Well, after that, once we jumped onto the statue, I started slipping. "Holy Hera," I muttered under my breath. "I'm gonna fall." I tightened my grip on the statue of the giant Poptropican as best as I could, but I ended with no prevail. I started slipping, and I tried using my sneakers as traction, but it _still_ didn't work, so I called out, "GODDAMMIT DAN! HELP ME OUT!" Dan turned around and saw me falling to my squishy death, so he raced back toward me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me up. I clung to him again. "Goddammit, I'm afraid of falling." I said, my eyes shut tight. I heard Dan laugh. "Okay, I'll help you with this one then. You think you can get on my back?" he asked. I opened my eyes, and let go of him slowly.

I inched around to his back, and climbed on when he crouched down. I clenched my fist into his shirt, and closed my eyes again. "If I fall to my death, I'm going to kill you Avalar." I mumbled to him. I swear, he must have smirked before we made our way across the statue. Once we got to the tip of it, Dan told me, "Okay, Mika, you have to get off now, and jump." How nice. I slipped off his back carefully, opening my eyes, and then he jumped away. He grabbed onto the nearest windowsill swiftly with his left hand, and climbed up.

I did the same thing right after he moved to a different window, because I really didn't want to stay on that statue anymore. Thank goodness I have good grip on solid terrain, or else I would have probably been screaming to death with the height we were at. We scaled a few more buildings before we finally reached the highest apartment building, where we met with Nat on the rooftop. He greeted us with a warm hello when he saw us pull ourselves up and lie on the ceiling. "Dan, never, _ever_ are we doing that again." I mumbled to him, as Nat helped me up. "Well," he said, dusting himself off when he stood. "Good for you, 'cause I have to do that a _lot_."

I smiled at looked at Nat. "Now, let me ask you this-why the hell did you decide to meet up with us at a restaurant that was on a building?" I asked, a vein bulging. "Well, this is my restaurant you see. Very secretive to the public eye," he explained, smiling. I sighed, exhaling my anger.

"Fine, but first we eat, and then we talk." Dan said as I noticed that it was getting dark. "I second that!" I exclaimed to Nat, who laughed and rushed us into the restaurant. "You got it." He said, laughing. "Oh, and Dan." I said, before we walked in. "Yeah?" and I kicked him in the shin. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled at me in question, hopping up and down on his good foot. I laughed, "That's for laughing about the statue incident. And Dan, I've never heard you swear in this whole day! Honestly, I didn't think you had it in you!"

* * *

><p><strong>Mizu-Nat, I need to borrow your wallet.<strong>

**Nat-Why?**

**Mika-She needs to pay the bills since Hika-chan is away.**

**Nat-Ahh...*sweatdrop* W-Well here you go...even if I didn't hand it over, you would have stolen it.**

**Mizu and Mika-Good point.**

**Hika-chan-*burst through the door dramatically* I'll be back for two days before I continue my investigation...HEY, you guys were rolling without me?*throws a fit***

**Mizu-*hides in an unknown room in the building*R&R please.  
><strong>


	5. Message To Meh Readers

Hika-chan-NYOLAH PEOPLES! Sorry for my huuuge absence, but I've been going through some crappy stuff for the past few weeks. _

Mizu-Many, many things have happened to her.

Hika-chan-So, yeah. This is to apologize for that. If I don't upload three new super long chapters for you guys by Monday for both Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia and Poptropica: A New Life, then…do something about it? *sweatdrop*

Mizu-This idiot…you're forgetting to mention your name…

Hika-chan-WAHHH! I almost forgot! My nickname has always been 'Hika-chan', but I developed an unknown reason of which you will not know (HA-HA) to put my full fake name as my FanFiction and FictionPress name.

Mizu-Baka, you're forgetting to tell them that your name is now Hikari Kurokaze.

Hika-chan-Ohhhh, yeah. *whistles and turns away* Sooo, bye-bye peoples!~


	6. A New Job

The three of us walked in and I was utterly amazed by the condition of the place.

It was beautiful! And the only reason I said that, is because it…the place reminded me of the kitchen and dining room back home. The rug on the floor, the walls being covered with random paints, the smell of curry always drifting into your nose. Or sometimes pasta. Pasta sounded good right about then. "Nat." I said aloud, reaching for a chair.

"I want to eat pasta!"

Nat smiled and clapped his hands, "Right away Mika!" Immediately, I heard sounds coming from the kitchen, and I saw people wearing the funny chef hats working elegantly to make delicious wonders. "Ah." I sighed happily. I sat myself by a table that sat four. "So, why are we here again?" I asked. Nat sat on one side of me, and Dan on the other.

"Well," Nathaniel started. "I wanted to ask you something Mika." I raised an eyebrow at him, and shared a glance with Dan. Shrugging, I asked, "Well, spill it out stupid."

"I want you to work for me."

There was a silence for a moment, before my brain processed that he just asked me to work for him. My cousin, asked me, to work for him, which means being a secret agent spy person. I slammed my hand on the table, startling the guys. I grinned madly, "Of course!" Dan grinned, but a look of insecurity came over him. "Hey, Mika are you sure? One time, I nearly got shot down, another I was almost eaten alive. By a shark. A _huge_ one."

I laughed at Dan. "Well, I suppose I could feel a little sorry for you about that, but Nat," I said turning to my smiling cousin. "I will work for you. I'll be one of your spies." Nat laughed his stupid laugh and patted me on my head. I didn't feel any need to smack him to Jupiter at that moment, as I was feeling terrific. "Brilliant Mika!" he announced. "I already have two jobs for you. But it seems you've already accepted one."

"Hmmn?" I asked, a question mark clearly floating over my head. "You don't mean…!" Dan exclaimed, standing up. He placed his hands on the table. "Nat, are you serious?" Nat smiled and nodded. The usual. "Dead serious Dan," he said, drooling at the smell of pasta. A vein bulged, and I rubbed my temple.

"Would someone _please_ tell me what the hell is going on now?" I mumbled angrily. Dan looked over to me with a smile. "You're my partner Mika!" he stuck out his hand in front of him. I looked at him, then to his hand, over to Nat, and back to Dan. "Y-You're…partner?" I asked. "As in, for our jobs…?"

Dan and Nat nodded simultaneously, saying, "Yup!" Scary. Oh god, I hope they don't ever do that again. I took Dan's hand in mine, and felt a warm feeling spread all over me. Hey, looks like this trip has paid off so far. I got a job working as a spy for my cousin, made two new friends, and one of which just happens to be my partner in, uh, not-crime? That didn't work. Oh well, I even met my grandmother after so long! This is brilliant!

Dan and I shook hands, then I hugged him. "H-Hey!" I laughed and pulled away from him, my hands on his shoulders. Smiling deviously, I laughed, "Oh, our adventures are gonna be fun!" Dan sweatdropped. "That scares me a little…" But before Nat or I could say anything, the smell of pasta and cheese occupied me as a chef came to place three plates of steaming, fresh, pasta in front of us.

I drooled and sat back down, digging into the cheesy goodness. We ate and talked like that for a while, talking about my new job and trying to find out what my code name was gonna be. "Hmmn…" Dan mumbled while slurping up a spaghetti noodle. I looked over at him. "You got a suggestion? Hopefully it'll be better then 'Mika the Mad'." I glared daggers at Nat.

Dan relaxed in his chair, and placed his arms behind his head. Closing his eyes, he said, "Golden Sword." Nat and I looked at each other, and Nat said, "That fits her perfectly, Dan."

"Yeah, yeah it does."

"How, may I ask?"

Dan smiled at me. "Heh, a golden sword-everyone's savior. It may kill, and it may do wrong at times, but it's used for good, and knows only to help." Nat said, looking out the window to watch the sun set. "To save. Just like you Mika. All today, you were focused on helping all those people in the village of Early Poptropica." Dan finished. I looked at the guys, blushing. "R-Really? Gee, thanks guys, but ain't it a bit wordy? I mean I do like it!" I said, looking down at my plate.

"Then the shortened version will be G.S." Dan said, grinning madly. I laughed. "It'll work, now I believe we have a job to do. Bye Nat." I got up, hugged my cousin, and walked out of the restaurant, Dan behind me.

"So, G.S." Dan began, as I stretched myself out. "Shall we get going?" He grabbed me by the waist-something this pervert has a habit of doing-and jumped off the roof. Another one of his stupid habits, randomly jumping from places. But anyway, I didn't scream my lungs out, but I did grab onto him. "Hey Dan!" I asked as he grabbed a clothes' line. We swung around a little bit, then he let go and we went soaring, landing on a window sill.

I let go of him as he asked, "Yes?"

"What's your code name?" Dan's eyes opened wide, and he turned red. "I-It's nothing! N-Now let's get going! We have something to find!" he stuttered, slowly walking away. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back over to me, feeling my heart thump as the fact that we could fall to our deaths at any minute just reached my mind.

"Tell me!" I whined. Dan shook his head. I raised an eyebrow, and looked down to the ledge. Dan, apparently, saw this. "Mika…" he said slowly. "Don't do that!" I smirked, edging closer to the edge. Me and my stupid plans. "Then tell me your code name!"

"No!"

"Bye." Stupidly, I fell back off the ledge, and I was falling through the sky, about to splatter against the floor at any moment. "Mika!" My heart was racing, but I was still smiling. Boy oh boy, that was gonna be in the record of stupidest stunts ever. But for some reason, I knew I was gonna live. And I was right. Dan jumped after me, quickly nearing with the way he fell. He grabbed my arm, pulled me close, and grabbed another clothes' line.

We just hung there like that for a while, until Dan yelled at me, "Mika! Why the hell did you do that! You friggen scared me to death!" My nails dug into his skin, but he didn't mind. I looked away to a window that didn't have people staring at us and said, "Sorry." It became silent after that again. Some of the people went away, some of 'em stayed expecting something cool to happen.

I loved how they disregarded the fact that we were two teenagers hanging from a clothes' line together. Hmph.

"C.T."

I looked up at Dan. "What does it stand for?" I asked quietly. Dan blushed, and looked away from my green eyes. "C-Cute Turtle." I started at him a moment, then realized he was actually telling the truth. I smiled and let go of Dan, of course, putting my hands on the clothes' line first. I swung a bit, and said, "Let's go, C.T!" I jumped off, and landed on a nearby window, scaring the guy that was watching us. Dan jumped after me, and as we scaled downward, he asked me, "Y-You didn't make fun of it?"

I shook my head. "Why would I? I can see why you got the name anyway." I grinned, blushing a little. I looked behind me, and saw Dan accidently send three flower pots down. Poor random people. "R-Really?" he asked, becoming flustered. "H-Hey, it's not like I l-like you or anything! As a friend-sure! But the other way? No!" I said, dropping to the ground.

Dan plopped down next to me, and we started walking in silence. "I meant, you're like that. You're a little shy on the inside, and I can see it. So, that makes you a turtle. But I'll only call you by C.T. or your name, Dan." I muttered to him. He looked at me and smiled, "What a relief. Thanks for not making fun of it."

Our conversation would have gone on longer than that, but I had tripped over a man hole. Of which, I fell into. Luckily, I landed on my feet, but when I looked around, all I saw was pure darkness. "Whoa. Hey C.T! Come down here!" I called up to Dan. I heard a sound next to me, and saw him holding the glow stick. I facepalmed.

"What?" he asked. "I didn't think you'd be right about the glow stick." He laughed. "Hardy har har," I mocked him. "Let's just look around for a while. If we bump into anything, we'll call Nat. okay?" I asked.

Hey, I had to make sure he was okay with it. He was my partner after all.

He nodded. "Let's go." We started 'investigating' the abandoned man hole, and found that there were ropes almost everywhere so we could get across gaps in the flooring. There were a lot of dead ends, but we also found writing on the walls. Like "are you afraid of the dark?" and "dead end". There was also some other stuff, but they was just…wrong.

Anyway, I was starting to get tired. From the immense walking to the fact it was dark, I couldn't help it. "Dan…" I yawned. "Hmn?"

"I'm tire-!" I stopped dead in my tracks. In front Dan and I was a large, golden egg. Already, I heard him calling Nat. "Hello?" C.T. spoke into the phone as I circled the thing. "_Yes_?" Nat said from the other side of the conversation. "Nat…Mika and I found a huge golden egg." Dan explained.

There was a pause, in which Nathaniel laughed. "_Ha, that was a good one Dan_!" I could imagine him wiping away fake tears. "No," I said. "Nat, we're dead serious. Listen, you're gonna get down here with a way for us to bring it to the surface." I tried to pick it up, but the damned thing was heavy. I rolled my eyes and yelled at Dan, "Get your ass over here C.T. and try to pick it up!"

Dan walked over to me and the egg, handed me the phone, and tried lifting the egg. He made some grunting sounds, which I presumed meant that was a little hard for him. But he managed to lift it just about a centimeter off the ground before he had to set it down again. "_Hmph_." Nat said. "_Where are you guys exactly_?"

"Uh, we're in the man hole a few buildings from the restaurant. It's dark in here, so you gotta be careful. Call out to us when you get here." Dan explained, then hung up. Sitting down, he shoved the phone in his pocket and sighed. I stared at him. "What? Come and sit, it's gonna take a while for Nat to get some people to lift this thing," he said to me.

I shrugged and sat next to him, bringing my knees to my chest. Okay, so I had nothing to talk about. So what? There was another of those awkward silences that keep occurring in this day. Then it ended with Dan saying, "Thanks for the hug earlier."

Oh thanks Dan, you really were making _some_ conversation! Not.

"You're welcome. It's cool, ya know. Being your partner and all. I never expected any of this to happen when I got to Poptropica, and look at me now! Heh, it's only been two days. I can't wait to travel all around Poptropica to help people. It's just-!"

"Awesome? Yeah, it really is." Dan smiled at me. I smiled back, and laughed for no reason at all. What made it even better was that he joined in with me. We went on like that for a minute until we got tired of laughing. "Ah." Dan sighed. I rested my head on his shoulder, and felt him tense a little. "You okay?" I asked. "Hmn? Oh, yeah!" he rushed. I snickered and stayed like that for a while. I moved my head back when my eyelids started to droop, and Nat called out from the beginning of the sewer, "WE'RE HERE!"

I facepalmed and immediately stood up. "Hey, Mika, don't you think it's gonna take Nat of all people a while to get here?" Dan asked, looking up at me from his seat. I thought about that for a while, and it made perfect sense. I shrugged and sat back down next to him asked, "Can I have the glow stick?" Dan looked at me, puzzled. Then he shrugged. Digging into his back pocket, he pulled it out and handed the glow stick to me.

I rolled it around in my hands for a while, feeling the warmth spread over me. That was when I realized how cold I actually was. Dammit, I was shivering! I wrapped my arms around myself and cursed, "I'm cold." Dan laughed at me and took off his jacket. He held it out to me with a smile. "Here," he said. "I don't need it." I slowly went for the jacket, and wrapped it around myself. I tilted my head against Dan, and again I felt him tense up, but he calmed back down after a minute.

Smiling, I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I don't know what time it was when I woke up, but we were at the hotel again, and Dan and Nat were looking at the egg. I sat up from my bench and looked around groggily. "How the hell…?" I muttered. I got up and trudged over to the guys, and leaned on Nat for some support. "Oh, did you have a good sleep Mika?" he asked me. I nodded, and Dan started blushing. I raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged it off.

I was brought a glass of soda, and I gulped it down quickly. Feeling reenergized, I put my hand on the egg and asked, "What do we do with it?" Nat looked down at me and smiled. Uh oh. "Well, you know how there's that rope outside, reaching into the clouds?" he asked me and Dan.

"No." was our combined response.

"Anyway, if you climb up that, you're going to meet this giant. He wants the egg. So, just give it to him, and he'll let you pass. If you get to pass, you'll be able to find some of the missing things!" he told us.

Dan and I stared at my cousin. "What?" he asked innocently. I facepalmed and ignored him, turning to Dan I said, "I want to go up." Dan gave me a bewildered look. "What? Mika it could be dangerous!" he exclaimed. I nodded in a calm way. "That's why I'm going. I need to be able to sharpen my skills now that I have a somewhat dangerous job," I smirked. Nat laughed and patted my head, and I kicked him in the shin. Dan looked at me, but finally sighed, "Fine. But if you get hurt Matthews, someone's gonna have to see my fury."

I laughed and looked at the egg. "So," I started. "How the hell do I get this thing outside?"

Okay, so Nat got some of his 'goons' to carry the egg up for me, which I appreciated very much. Once they were up, I was signaled to go. I waved to Nat and Dan, and climbed up the rope. Quickly, I reached the top. I was standing on cloud with the egg, goons, and a giant who was staring down at me. I ordered the goons back to the surface, and they went down gladly.

"Hello Mr. Giant!" I called up to him, cupping my hands around my mouth. The giant bellowed, "Hello, human. What would be your business with me?" I pointed to the golden egg. "I've come to return the golden egg in exchange for me to get to the other side of your club." I yelled back up at him. He had this huge club with spikes and such planted on the cloud, and unfortunately, there was no damned way I could get past the thing without getting myself hurt.

The giant was silent for a moment, and then he lifted his club. I smiled. "Thank you!" I ran past the club, and was amazed by what I saw. There was this huge bucket thing that had vines stretching out from it. "Whoa!"


End file.
